Doctor's Orders
by etraytin
Summary: A week after Opposition Research, Abbey Bartlet shows up at Santos for President HQ, looking for a certain troublemaker.


Author's Note: This is it, guys! Forty-two days, 122,000 words in 36 stories. It's been a heck of a ride, and I'm honored and grateful for all of you who have come along with me, reading and giving feedback with your comments, your PMs, your kudos, and your favorites and follows. It's been an incredible amount of fun, and I've stretched myself creatively in ways I never have before. Now all that's left is the actual IRL election and seeing what's next for our country. As for me, I will be taking a few days off to fold my laundry and do all the other chores I've been slacking on while writing, but don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. :)

Today's prompt is from Anonymous, who asked for "Abbey goes to bug/check up on Josh during the first weeks of the Santos Campaign." Hope you all enjoy, and if you're in the USA and of age, go and vote!

…...

The storefront lost two more ceiling tiles in its first week as Matt Santos for President campaign headquarters. Fortunately for everyone involved, there were very few Santos staffers as yet, and they were barely ever in the office, so nobody had gotten beaned yet. It still made Josh nervous, especially when he was a sitting target at his desk, simultaneously trying to go over spending reports and listen for any ominous creaking noises. He'd found a cache of old kayaking helmets in the back room and had been sorely tempted to don one, but not when there was any chance of reporters prowling around. That would be a better process story than the life rafts. He'd rather take his chances with the tile.

He was concentrating so hard for any faint noises in the ceiling that the relatively loud bang of the front door had him jumping half a mile in his seat. He smacked his knee against the underside of the desk, swore, then looked up reflexively to make sure the tiles were still in place. Only then did he look to see who was at the door and notice two Secret Service agents. One of them nodded to him. "Mr. Lyman, we need to look the building over."

Josh stared, dumbfounded for a moment. "Uh, go ahead." He thought about warning them about the tiles, but surely everything that was going to fall had fallen already. They seemed to take notice of the ceiling just fine themselves, one even taking a little pocket flashlight out and shining it into the blank spaces left by the escapees. In less than two minutes they'd canvassed the building and returned to the door. A third agent outside opened it, revealing Abigail Bartlet. Josh got to his feet hastily. "Good morning, ma'am."

"Good morning, Joshua," Abbey said cordially, taking her time to look around the building. "I'd heard you were renting out Larrabee's, that's nice. After that scandal with the leaky lifejackets, everyone knew it was only a matter of time. Is it always so cold in here?"

Usually it was even colder, but Josh knew better to admit that. "We're working on sealing up some drafts, ma'am. It's warmer when the rest of the staff is here, but the Congressman had a breakfast meeting with some professors from UNH about his education initiative."

"The increased school year?" Abbey asked. Josh nodded. "It's an interesting idea, if you're willing to spend the entire campaign fighting the teacher's unions."

"We're fighting everybody," Josh admitted with a wry grin. "It's sort of our modus operandi at this point."

"An insurgent campaign, very inspiring." She walked over to his desk, and he suddenly noticed she had her black bag in her hand. Not good. "Speaking of stirring up trouble, I hear my eldest daughter came by to see you last week."

"Ah, yes ma'am," Josh confirmed, trying to back away in a very subtle fashion. It didn't work well, especially since he'd pushed his desk close to the wall on the theory that the tiles there were more firmly anchored. "I did talk with her about the possible optics of a personal donation-"

Abbey waved him silent. "Oh, save it, Josh. Liz has been in politics since before she could read, she knew what she was doing. That's not what concerns me. She said you look like you haven't been sleeping or eating, and she's right. So I placed a few sociable calls to my very good friends Dr. Pataki and Dr. Grosse. It had been way too long. And do you know what I happened to discover quite by accident during those conversations?

"I don't know Mrs. B, but I'm sure I'm about to find out." Josh sighed and braced himself. If Mrs. Bartlet had called his doctor and his cardiologist both, there was no way he was getting out of this conversation easily.

"Damn right you are. Both of them said they haven't seen you in well over six months. Which is strange, because I'm absolutely certain you're supposed to be getting four-month checkups with both those individuals, not to mention a yearly CT scan that you're almost a year overdue for." She gave him a very hard look. "A lot of talented people put a huge amount of time and effort into putting you back together again, you know. Are you trying to void the warranty after less than six years?"

"No ma'am." Josh found it hard to meet her eyes, and prayed silently that Abbey Bartlet never got together with his mother. "I've had a lot on my plate, and then with the campaign getting into gear..."

"And it's a lot easier blowing off your schedule when nobody else is keeping it for you," she guessed. Josh looked away; he wasn't ready to talk about that. She took the hint. "In any case, I'm not going to let you off the hook that easily, not while you're sitting practically in my backyard. You still need an appointment with Dr. Grosse, but I'll give you your checkup right here. Are you still taking the Cozaar and the aspirin regimen?" She set her bag down on his desk and opened it.

"Ah, yes. I need to refill the Cozaar," Josh admitted. He looked dubiously at the bag. "Please tell me you don't have a hospital gown in there."

"I do not, but don't think that means you'll get to keep all your clothes on. Lose the shirt," she commanded. "Undershirt too. I'm going to write you a scrip you can take to the pharmacy just down the street here, they'll have it filled for you by tonight. You of all people can't mess around with your blood pressure," she reminded him sternly.

Josh wasn't actually going to argue with the First Lady, who was also a doctor, who'd also bossed them around like a mom since the very first campaign, but he did muster an impressive sigh to let her know what he thought as he slipped off his shirt and tugged his undershirt over his head. She just gave him a level, deeply unimpressed look. "Fine," he said at length. "I'll get it filled tonight."

"Good." Abbey sat him down on a clear spot on his desk and poked and prodded him for a few minutes, asking what places hurt and whether he was stiff in the mornings and how much sleep he was getting. She did not seem impressed even with his fudged answers. She was pleased enough with his heart and lung sounds that he only got the short version of her lecture about exercise, and also got to put his shirt back on.

"Now I know this is a ridiculous question at this point," Abbey began, "but how's your stress level?"

"I've been more stressed," Josh told her honestly, though that wasn't saying much.

"That's not saying much," Abbey pointed out, "after seven years in the White House. Are you taking any time to relax, or spending any time with friends?"

"Well, I always enjoy the quality time I spend right here with you- ow!" he protested as she gave his earlobe a gentle pinch. "It's the start of a campaign for president, and all my friends work in the White House. It doesn't leave much time or opportunity for socializing."

"You have one friend who's based out of New Hampshire right now, I hear," she pointed out mildly, even as she made him push and pull on her hands, testing his grip strength and range of motion. "Nothing saying you can't have a drink with her."

"She's on the opposition team right now," Josh pointed out grimly. "And she made it pretty clear how she felt about me when she walked out on her job. I'm just going to let that be."

"Josh," Abbey sighed, sounding disappointed in him. "If leaving your job for a new opportunity meant a personal rejection of the person you'd been working for, do you think I'd be here right now trying to keep you alive?"

"It's not the same," he muttered, looking away, though he couldn't find the words to articulate all the ways in which it was different. "I... I'm not sure it's ever going to be the right time for us to work things out, but it's definitely not right now, when we're working against each other and nobody is getting any sleep. I don't want to make things any worse than they already are."

Abbey hmmed noncommittally at that. "Sometimes you have to take a risk," she advised him, but let the topic slide after that, to Josh's relief. She looked in his ears, his eyes, and was shining her scope down his throat with the aid of a tongue depressor when the front door banged open again and the Congressman strode in, Ned and Ronna in tow.

"You missed a great meeting, Josh- what the hell are you doing?" Congressman Santos, stopped, baffled, as he took in the scene. It took an extra second for him to notice the identity of Josh's doctor, time that Abbey used to complete her examination of Josh's adenoids and give him back control of his mouth.

"Congressman Santos, a pleasure as always," she drawled with great good humor, tugging off her glove and extending a hand.

"Ma'am." Santos' bafflement had given way to shock by this point, but politeness was deeply ingrained. "It's wonderful to see you, but I wasn't expecting your visit." He glanced at Josh, and at her open bag. "Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing at all," she assured him breezily. "Just making a house call to ensure that your campaign manager stays in good shape through the election. Once things really start heating up, you'll want to assign an aide to make sure he eats actual food and drinks things besides coffee," she advised.

"Mrs. Bartlet!" Josh protested, his voice a little higher and more squawky than he would've liked. "Everything's completely fine, sir, really."

"He's easily distracted," Abbey confided in Matt. "He'll work himself into the ground for your campaign if you let him, so it's important to make sure he's not letting himself become completely exhausted. You're going to need him in good shape for Transition."

"I'll do that, ma'am, and thank you for that rather stunning show of confidence," Santos didn't seem to know what to do with the idea that Abbey Bartlet even gave them a chance of getting as far as Transition."

"Josh picks winners," Abbey told him with a charming, yet slightly evil grin. "Who do you think took my husband, who was polling at seven percent in January, and made him the President? Good luck to all of you." She returned to packing up her back, leaving the congressman looking gobsmacked in the middle of the room. Ned and Ronna still hadn't moved far from the door, looking as though they were afraid to approach the First Lady at all. Josh was going to have to work with them before they started working any high-level fundraisers.

Josh's attention was drawn back to Abbey when she tapped his knee and spoke in a low voice. "And as for you, think about what I said. Elections and terms in office come and go. You look after your friendships and they'll last you much longer. I'm sure she misses you, Josh. Don't let misplaced pride ruin eight good years."

"Thank you ma'am, I'll think about that," he managed. There was no possible way he was going to think about that anytime soon His brain was much too full of everything that needed to be done in this moment, for this campaign, to begin thinking about anything outside it, much less something so complicated and fraught. It would just have to wait.

"Good. Take care of yourself. Zoey says hi, by the way. Expect a visit for spring break." Abbey let him stand up, then gave him a hug and waved to the dazzled staffers. "Good luck to you as well. Have some fun. Campaigns are quite a ride."

With that she was gone, her Secret Service agents filing out with her and the door banging slightly as it shut. There was a long moment of silence as the key players of Matt Santos for President stared at each other, broken when another tile fell out of the ceiling and crashed down directly in front of Josh's desk. "We really should do something about that," Josh decided.

"I'll get the helmets," said Ronna.


End file.
